Author profile: Harry Kazianis

Harry serves as Editor-In-Chief for The Diplomat as well as a CSIS: WSD Handa Fellow. He has served in the past as Deputy Editor for e-IR. He specializes in security studies with a keen interest in modern Chinese military strategy and foreign policy. Harry has written in publications including The Diplomat, East Asia Forum and the Foreword Report.

Recent developments in the South China Sea and China’s emphasis on the modernization of its military raise important issues for the future of U.S. strategic manoeuvring in the region. What can be done to sustain future U.S. presence in Asia while tactfully maintaining a favourable position for its interests and the stability in the region?

With the large amount of scholarship that details Chinese aerospace technology and its application into military power, there is always a danger any edited volume could get lost in the crowd. This book clearly has no such troubles. The work assembles what constitutes an all-star cast of scholars to discuss one of the most timely security studies subjects of the 21st century.

Much has been made recently in multiple publications about the possible escalatory nature of fighting Chinese anti-access tactics with a concept of “Air/Sea Battle”. Very little exact information about the plan is known to the public, yet speculation has remained rampant. The concept at its core is attempting to create synergy between armed forces in combining their offensive capabilities as seamlessly as possible. This is not a new idea.

Seniors and the elderly are going to pay for this new “American Austerity”, those who can least afford it. Lets face facts: if there are no revenue increases, there will have to be cuts in pretty much every part of the US budget. If there is no cut in military spending, it will be you and me, the average American taxpayer who will feel the cuts. Sadly, nothing good will come out of any of this.

There have been several reports that the Chinese may have been the winners to purchase the British HMS Ark Royal. If this is the case, we could see the old flagship of the Royal Navy serving in the PLA navy. Western and Russian military planners should think long and hard on whom they sell their old wares to. It just might come back to haunt them.

Direct military contacts are a great idea, generally. If both parties can look past military posturing and develop personal relationships they can prove useful and save lives in times of conflict. However, top level exchanges with point scoring press conferences are not useful and should be avoid. Case in point…

The raising of the US national debt ceiling authorizing America to borrow money on global financial markets has become one of the most under-reported topics of our time. What was usually a minor issue has become a game of “Russian roulette”. The stakes could not be any higher. Forget American decline, global chaos would result.

The intervention in Libya is being portrayed in the media as an attempt to save the Libyan people from destruction at the hands of a brutal and oppressive regime. When one looks at the evidence, various interests and geopolitical concerns confronting intervening nations, another motive emerges: realism.

China and the west view Africa with a different set of eyes. In supporting trade with any and all nations in Africa and around the globe, China by default supports nations that have horrendous human rights track records that do not support democratic institutions. But China’s model of economic aid can be used by African nations to pull millions of people out of poverty. It is nothing more, nothing less.

President Woodrow Wilson, the only person to be elected to the presidency with a PhD in Political Science, left an undeniable mark on US history and world affairs. War can shape the values of a nation. I believe the American Civil War war influenced President Wilson as a young boy to such an extent, that it changed world history.

The creation of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II has created a conundrum for military planners and policy makers around the globe. How do you construct a model for defense against nuclear weapons? Beginning in the early 1960’s until the present day, policy makers around the globe have crafted a number of missile defense systems to attempt to counter nuclear weapons deployments. The results have been mixed.

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